And two from The Onion, too!
Fewer people watched Community last night, but it's still doing better than it was Excerpts:
After such a strong return, Community’s ratings experienced a probably inevitable correction last night, dropping by about 20 percent from around 5 million viewers to around 3.9 million, with a 1.7 ratings share among adults 18 to 49.
Yet:
These are slightly higher numbers than the show was pulling in the fall, and in fact, Community was the overall ratings winner on NBC’s Thursday night, outscoring both 30 Rock and Up All Night (to say nothing of the increasingly spiraling Awake). Combining that small yet significant audience bump with that small yet significant victory, as well as Comedy Central’s recent move to put Community into syndication—and of course, all of those animated GIFs you’ve been making—we’d say it all bodes well for the show’s chances ..
Best comedy on Network/Basic Cable television among several funny comedies. Not only "Best," but "Funny" too. Six seasons and a movie. Yes, please!
Speaking of Awake.. “Kate Is Enough” The AV Club (The Onion). Excerpts:
We don’t really know which world is real and which is the fantasy; we don’t even know if this is the right question to be asking. One of the smartest creative choices Awake has made so far is the show’s willingness not to dig too deeply into its premise.
..
As genre protagonists go, Michael is of the stoic variety. At first glance, he appears calm, patient, and mildly befuddled by life, like someone’s just told a joke he doesn’t quite get. It’s easy to overlook the effectiveness of Jason Isaacs' performance, because he isn’t doing a lot of obvious heavy-lifting. Why should he? Hannah and Rex are the ones who are suffering; they’re the ones who lost someone. For Michael, life is pretty much the same as it’s always been. Things are just a little more complicated.
Except that isn’t true, and the more you watch Isaacs, and get to know Michael, the more you realize he knows it. Awake benefits from not poking its premise too hard, and this single-mindedness stems directly from the show’s leading man. He’s a sleepwalker, moving from scene to scene with his eyes half-open, because his only objective is to sustain this new reality for as long as he can. Other genre shows introduce a strange premise and then provide a hero whose central goal is to solve the mystery; here, we have someone who would sacrifice all he has just to make sure that mystery stays in place. Usually, that’s the antagonist’s job, which sets up the potential for an interesting dynamic down the line, but for right now, it’s enough that Michael’s objective is to make whatever is happening to him work for as long as he possibly can, and to do that, he needs to balance the demands of two worlds, maintain his composure, and do his job in both, while at the same time avoiding any substantial divergence or change. And once again, I am impressed by the perfection of this as a metaphor for grief: a hero who spends his every waking minute trying to stand still.
And:
At some point, the show will most likely come to some sort of conclusion about what’s “real” and what isn’t, but for right now, we’re in a nebulous place where nothing is exactly real, but everything matters anyway. Because of this, the episode at times is less like a cop drama, and more like watching a man’s internal struggles played out in real time.
Awake is unfolding beautifully. It'll be a shame when NBC cancels it. If I made the programming decisions(keeping the same shows minus The Office swapped for Up All Night/all times Central..)? Awake 7-8. Up All Night at 8. Parks and Recreation at 8:30. 30 Rock at 9. Community at 9:30. Awake is no longer up against The Mentalist, and now up against Big Bang. The big difference is there's now a genre choice between. NBC and CBS the entire night! Just by taking Community away from Big Bang's dominant 7p.m. slot, NBC could grow Community pretty quickly. Let's face it, if The Mentalist sucks that night, or it's a re-run, that's a ton of people right there! NBC should really consider some long term growth in aspects of their programming. CBS owns the ratings every Thursday. But I think NBC has better shows. They just need the opportunity to grow until more people find out about them. NBC has the programming. In order to beat CBS on Thursdays, NBC needs patience.
The type of people who love The Mentalist would also love Awake. Now they don't compete! Person of Interest is a clear choice from Up All Night and Parks and Recreation. If it were me, I'd definitely give the people who love 30 Rock and Community the chance to get home late and still see two of their favorite shows before The News. Research indicates Community fans are more urban and get home later in the evening. It seems like a perfect fit for both shows. Note: As 30 Rock is in its sixth season, it is not new, but has never connected, even initially, with a larger core audience in its single slot. Now that both WGN and Comedy Central have picked it up, people are starting to Get It. People's awareness of 30 Rock is just now where it should have been all along. That is the premise to build upon..
Patience, successful-despite-yourself corporate-lunkheads; Patience..
Fewer people watched Community last night, but it's still doing better than it was Excerpts:
After such a strong return, Community’s ratings experienced a probably inevitable correction last night, dropping by about 20 percent from around 5 million viewers to around 3.9 million, with a 1.7 ratings share among adults 18 to 49.
Yet:
These are slightly higher numbers than the show was pulling in the fall, and in fact, Community was the overall ratings winner on NBC’s Thursday night, outscoring both 30 Rock and Up All Night (to say nothing of the increasingly spiraling Awake). Combining that small yet significant audience bump with that small yet significant victory, as well as Comedy Central’s recent move to put Community into syndication—and of course, all of those animated GIFs you’ve been making—we’d say it all bodes well for the show’s chances ..
Best comedy on Network/Basic Cable television among several funny comedies. Not only "Best," but "Funny" too. Six seasons and a movie. Yes, please!
Speaking of Awake.. “Kate Is Enough” The AV Club (The Onion). Excerpts:
We don’t really know which world is real and which is the fantasy; we don’t even know if this is the right question to be asking. One of the smartest creative choices Awake has made so far is the show’s willingness not to dig too deeply into its premise.
..
As genre protagonists go, Michael is of the stoic variety. At first glance, he appears calm, patient, and mildly befuddled by life, like someone’s just told a joke he doesn’t quite get. It’s easy to overlook the effectiveness of Jason Isaacs' performance, because he isn’t doing a lot of obvious heavy-lifting. Why should he? Hannah and Rex are the ones who are suffering; they’re the ones who lost someone. For Michael, life is pretty much the same as it’s always been. Things are just a little more complicated.
Except that isn’t true, and the more you watch Isaacs, and get to know Michael, the more you realize he knows it. Awake benefits from not poking its premise too hard, and this single-mindedness stems directly from the show’s leading man. He’s a sleepwalker, moving from scene to scene with his eyes half-open, because his only objective is to sustain this new reality for as long as he can. Other genre shows introduce a strange premise and then provide a hero whose central goal is to solve the mystery; here, we have someone who would sacrifice all he has just to make sure that mystery stays in place. Usually, that’s the antagonist’s job, which sets up the potential for an interesting dynamic down the line, but for right now, it’s enough that Michael’s objective is to make whatever is happening to him work for as long as he possibly can, and to do that, he needs to balance the demands of two worlds, maintain his composure, and do his job in both, while at the same time avoiding any substantial divergence or change. And once again, I am impressed by the perfection of this as a metaphor for grief: a hero who spends his every waking minute trying to stand still.
And:
At some point, the show will most likely come to some sort of conclusion about what’s “real” and what isn’t, but for right now, we’re in a nebulous place where nothing is exactly real, but everything matters anyway. Because of this, the episode at times is less like a cop drama, and more like watching a man’s internal struggles played out in real time.
Awake is unfolding beautifully. It'll be a shame when NBC cancels it. If I made the programming decisions(keeping the same shows minus The Office swapped for Up All Night/all times Central..)? Awake 7-8. Up All Night at 8. Parks and Recreation at 8:30. 30 Rock at 9. Community at 9:30. Awake is no longer up against The Mentalist, and now up against Big Bang. The big difference is there's now a genre choice between. NBC and CBS the entire night! Just by taking Community away from Big Bang's dominant 7p.m. slot, NBC could grow Community pretty quickly. Let's face it, if The Mentalist sucks that night, or it's a re-run, that's a ton of people right there! NBC should really consider some long term growth in aspects of their programming. CBS owns the ratings every Thursday. But I think NBC has better shows. They just need the opportunity to grow until more people find out about them. NBC has the programming. In order to beat CBS on Thursdays, NBC needs patience.
The type of people who love The Mentalist would also love Awake. Now they don't compete! Person of Interest is a clear choice from Up All Night and Parks and Recreation. If it were me, I'd definitely give the people who love 30 Rock and Community the chance to get home late and still see two of their favorite shows before The News. Research indicates Community fans are more urban and get home later in the evening. It seems like a perfect fit for both shows. Note: As 30 Rock is in its sixth season, it is not new, but has never connected, even initially, with a larger core audience in its single slot. Now that both WGN and Comedy Central have picked it up, people are starting to Get It. People's awareness of 30 Rock is just now where it should have been all along. That is the premise to build upon..
Patience, successful-despite-yourself corporate-lunkheads; Patience..
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